Blog By Janelle Batista

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Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Paying college athletes is currently one of the biggest controversies in college sports today.

The NCAA runs a multi-billion dollar collegiate sports industry.

Many believe college athletes should not be paid. A few of these reasons include:

They are already paid – Some believe since students-athletes receive free tuition, athletic health care, and stipend (for those on scholarship), that this is considered payment enough.

Who is going to pay – Paying student-athletes will only raise cost for normal students who pay tuition.

This is not what college is about? – Some also believe college is not the pros; therefore student-athletes should not be paid. Also, those college athletes should play at the college level and wait till after college to get paid like everyone else.

Sends a bad message- What would our younger generation look up to? College sports would only send a message that it’s okay to only pay some athletes and these younger generations would demand being paid. Maybe even at the high school level.

There will be not recruiting- Smaller schools with less money would not be able to recruit and compete with larger universities and would ultimately lose their athletic programs.

“No, I don’t think they should be paid, because they do get so many other benefits,” said student Mallory White.

On the other hand, some critics believe college athletes should be paid. A few of these reasons include:

Where is the money going? – The NCAA revenue was 871.6 millionfor the year 2011-12. So with all of this money flowing in, why aren’t athletes being paid?

It is not a fair trade- Education vs. the things student-athletes get put through is not an even trade off.

They need medial insurance- Student-athletes are put through extensive physical trauma to their bodies that need to be maintained during the course of their career. Many injuries can affect the rest of their lives.

There is a double standard- At the end of the day, student-athletes are just the same… broke college students like everyone else. Although, many student-athletes are not able to work or restricted from working to make any of their own money.

Who is bringing in the money? – Whoever is bringing in the money should be paid accordingly. Similar to the way many businesses work today.

These are just some of the reasons why people believe college athletes should and shouldn’t get paid.